WO1994008489A1

WO1994008489A1 - A modular element for furnishings

Info

Publication number: WO1994008489A1
Application number: PCT/IT1993/000110
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roberto Baldetti
Original assignee: Roberto Baldetti
Priority date: 1992-10-20
Filing date: 1993-10-15
Publication date: 1994-04-28
Also published as: AU5433294A

Abstract

A modular element for furnishings, comprising two vertical walls (1, 1') and two flat elements (7, 8) in the form of shaped rectangular or square plates, which are assembled with four identical L-shaped angle elements (2) arranged at the four corners and fitted on the ends of said vertical walls (1, 1') and flat elements (7, 8) by a sliding movement, so as to form a square or rectangular frame (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d; 7, 8, 1, 1'). On the internal sides of the vertical walls of the angle elements (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d), there are provided two projections (20, 20') of a constant thickness and disposed in a specular arrangement one with respect to the other, and two pins (21, 21'). The projections (20, 20') are used as guides and catches for pins which are integral with a movable part. The pins (21, 21') serve as supports for rotation surfaces integral with the movable part which may be inserted by a rotational movement in the frame (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d; 7, 8, 1, 1') of the modular element. The modular element may also form a single piece.

Description

A modular element for furnishings

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a modular element for furnishings made up by an integral part or by an ensemble of elements to be assembled together, in order to obtain a modular frame for furnishings and in particular for a piece of furniture, said modular element being suited to be connected in a stable manner to other similar modular elements.

Background Art

Modular elements for furnishings are already known. Said modular elements, however, have predetermined dimensions, because their constituent parts (that is their horizontal and vertical walls) form an integral piece. Furthermore, they often have a depth which does not allow their use in narrow passageways of houses.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has as one of its objects, to provide a modular element or frame for furnishings, that is, one which can be connected to other modular elements in order to obtain a single piece of furniture, said modular element being formed by a plurality of elements assembled together. Another object of the present invention is to provide an angle element which connects any modular element to one which is located above or below or laterally with respect to it.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a modular element for furnishings in which conventional elements for furnishings can be inserted and secured, for example brackets, drawers supporting structures, closed or open rooms, or movable containers which are extractable by a rotational movement. According to a particular embodiment of the present invention, the modular element is made up by an integral piece having at least two lateral walls and two horizontal walls, an upper one and a lower one, and by a movable part extractable by a rotational movement.

Brief Description of Drawings

The present invention will now be described by means of preferred embodiments thereof, which are illustrative but not limitative, and which are shown in the annexed figures showing individually:

Fig. 1, an axono etric exploded view of a modular element for furnishings of the present invention, and the manner in which the different elements can be assembled, according to a first embodiment of the invention ;

Fig. 2, an axonometric exploded view showing the connection between two angle elements for furnishings, making up two different adjacent modular elements relative to the first embodiment;

Fig. 3, an axonometric view of the angle element, which is also part of the present invention;

Fig. 4, a schematic sectional view of four angle elements which are secured together by special blocking and fastening means;

Figs. 5a, 5b, 5c, a plan view of an angle element (Fig. 5c), and two views along orthogonal directions (Figs. 5a, 5b);

Fig. 6, a partially sectional view which shows the connection by means of a blocking element shaped like a frustum of a cone, between a flat element of an underlying modular element and the angle element of an overlying modular element, according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 7, an axonometric view of an ensemble of superimposed modular elements of different dimensions, containing drawers supporting frames, rooms closed by doors, open rooms with shelves, brackets with raised edges, extractable movable parts or any other type of elements for furnishings; Fig. 8 is an axonometric view of a movable part or small basket which may be inserted into a modular element (or extracted therefrom) , said modular element being obtained according to the first embodiment or according to a second possible embodiment shown in Figs. 9a, 9b, 10, 11;

Figs. 9a, 9b respectively show the modular element according to a second possible embodiment, with the movable part or small basket in a first position with an intermediate inclination in which it can be extracted, and in a second stable position of maximum inclination;

Fig. 10 is a front sectional view of two modular elements for furnishings according to a second possible embodiment, which shows another possible fitting system different from that of the first embodiment, in order to superimpose two modular elements;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of what is shown in Fig. 10.

Best Mode of Carrying out the Invention

With reference to Fig. 1, the modular element comprises two lateral vertical walls 1, 1' in the form of rectangular plates with lateral edges whose cross section is shaped like a U, said walls being fitted on four identical angle elements 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d. It will therefore be sufficient to describe one of them. The angle element 2a, has a cross section shaped like an L, whose horizontal and vertical sections have the same lengths. The vertical section is made up by a section 4b and by a section 3b of a reduced thickness with respect to the section 4b. In this way, when the lateral vertical wall 1 is fitted on the angle element 2a, it will cover the section 3b of the angle element 2a by means of its upper end, so that the face 5 of the lateral vertical wall 1 is perfectly aligned with face 6 of section 4b of the angle element 2a.

In the same manner the flat elements 7 , 8 and the angle elements 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d are fitted together. Also the flat elements 7, 8 are shaped like a rectangular plate with opposite edges 7', 7" and 8' , 8" having a U-shape, and, for example, when the flat element 7 is to be fixed to the angle element 2a, the face 9 will be perfectly aligned with the upper face of the flat element 7. The fixing of the lateral vertical walls 1, 1' and the flat elements 7, 8 to the angle elements 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d is performed by means of screws, for example as shown by 10, 10' in Fig. 1. For the fixing operation, there are provided through holes 13, 13' , 14, 14' on that part of the flat element 8, having a U-shape, and similar holes are provided on the flat element 7 (which are hidden by the upper face o> >f:: the flat element 7). In addition, there are provided four through holes on each lateral vertical wall 1, 1', for example 11, 11' , 12, 12'.

Four threaded holes 15, 15', 16, 16' are provided also on each angle element, for example 2c. The fixing of the elements 8, 2c, 1' to be assembled is effected by fitting or inserting the element 8 on the element 2c, until the through holes 13, 13' are aligned with the threaded holes 15, 15' , and the element 1' on the element 2c until the through holes 11, 11' are aligned with the threaded holes 16, 16'.

The stirrup 17 for connection to the wall, is positioned on the three elements to be assembled 8, 2c, 1' as shown in Fig. 2. The stirrup 17 for connection to the wall, has two through holes 19, 19' which permit to secure said stirrup 17 by means of screws 18, 18' to the already assembled elements 8, 2c, 1'.

In order to effect this last mentioned operation, the screw 18 is inserted in the through holes 11 and 19, and is screwed in the threaded hole 16. In the same manner, the screw 18' is introduced in the holes 19' , 13, 15.

The connection of the stirrup 17 to the wall is performed by means of dowels which are inserted in the slit 61. Another stirrup 17' for connection to the wall is fixed in the same manner. As may be noted in Fig. 3, every angle element is provided with two specular projections 20, 20' on one of the internal walls.

Furthermore, there are provided two projections 21, 21' of εemicilindrical shape. Their function will be explained as the present description proceeds. Fig. 2 shows the fixing operation of two adjacent modular elements. The angle element 3c of the second modular element is secured to the angle element 2c, by means of bolts 32, 33 and nuts 34, 35, the bolts being screwed in the through holes 36, 38 and 37, 39 respectively, which are aligned when the two angle elements are placed adjacent to each other.

The numerals 40 and 41 indicate a lateral vertical wall and a flat element of the second modular element, respectively.

The above described modular elements may also be superimposed. This superimposition is done by connecting to each other two angle elements. As may be noted in Fig. 1, every angle element has on its horizontal section two circular recesses 42, 43 (see angle element 2d) , with a central projection 44 in the form of a small pin. The blocking element 45 shaped like a frustum of a cone, has a very small taper, and has an axial hole. The smaller base of the blocking element 45 is inserted in the recess 43 in such a way that the axial hole receives the pin 44. Since the blocking element 45 shaped like a frustum of a cone is made of a deformable material, an angle element may be superimposed on the angle element 2d by fixing the blocking element 45 in the circular recess of the overlying angle element, simply by an elastic deformation and in the above described manner; however, this requires a small effort since the upper base of the blocking element 45 is larger than the lower one and also slightly larger than the cross section of the circular recess.

With reference to Fig. 4, it is shown schematically the way how four angle elements are fixed to each other. The angle elements 2a and 2b are fixed to each other in the same manner as the angle elements 2c and 3c of Fig. 2, by means of bolts 32, 33 and nuts 34, 35. (Since the view is a sectional view, only the bolt 33 and the nut 35 are shown). The same is true for the angle elements 2c, 2d. On the other hand, the angle elements 2a, 2c and 2b, 2d are connected by means of the blocking element 45 shaped like a frustum of a cone, in the above described manner.

Therefore, Fig. 4 shows schematically how four modular elements for furnishings are connected in the region of the common vertex of the four angle elements 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d.

The circles with dotted lines in Figs. 1-3-5, indicate the positions of the circular recesses, which are not through holes, and which are therefore hidden by a wall of the angle element itself. For example, the angle element 2c of Fig. 1 has its circular recesses placed on the lower side thereof, they are therefore not visible and their position is indicated by two circles with dotted lines.

Clearly, the lateral vertical walls and the flat elements may be of variable lenght, so as to obtain the desired size of the modular element. Furthermore, the thickness of the projections 20, 20' , 21, 21' is the same in all angle elements. Making reference again to Fig. 1, it may be noted that the flat elements, for example the flat element 7, are provided with equidistant hole pairs 60a, 60b. With reference to Fig. 6, the angle element 2a instead of being fixed to an underlying angle element 2c by means of the blocking element 45 in the manner shown in Fig. 4, is connected to a flat element 7 of an underlying modular element, by means of two blocking elements 45 shaped like a frustum of a cone, which are now introduced in the holes 60a, 60b. Since the view is a sectional view, only one of the two blocking elements 45 is shown, namely that introduced in the hole 60a. Therefore, the lateral vertical walls 1, after the assembling operation of the modular elements, may not be aligned, and the modular elements may have variable widths, as will be illustrated in the following, with reference to Fig. 7. The shape, like a truncated cone, of the element 45, and an adequate choice of the size of the holes 60a, 60b, prevents any relative movement of the element 45 and the elements to be connected, that is the flat element 7 and the angle element 2a. Another through hole 60c, similar to the hole 60a, is indicated in Fig. 6.

The holes 60a, 60b have also the function to permit the airing (ventilation) of the piece of furniture. Fig. 7 shows a piece of furniture 100 made up by different modular elements, which are superimposed and placed side by side.

The modular elements have different dimensions and allow different conventional elements for furnishings to be introduced in the respective frames.

The numeral 101 indicates a drawers supporting structure (frame) whose projections 101a jutting out of the lateral walls of the structure, have a thickness such as to be inserted below the projections 20, 20', 21, 21' having the same thickness, allowing the centering of the frame 101. Numerals 102a, 102b indicate small rooms closed by doors, and numeral 103 indicates a small open room with shelves. The blocking of these elements to the frame may be performed by using a pair of holes 62, 63 located below the holes 38, 39 which are provided on each angle element, inserting in them any type of blocking pin.

In the underlying floor of the piece of furniture , located immediately below the uppermost one, there are three modular elements of a bracket-type, which have a larger width as compared to the overlying modular elements, and consequently, since the lateral vertical walls of the modular elements are not aligned relative to each other, the two rows of modular elements are connected together as described with reference to Fig. 5, apart from the external lateral walls of the piece of furniture, where the superimposed angle elements are fixed as described with reference to Fig. 4.

Reference numeral 104 indicates a bracket with raised edges, whose projection 104a is inserted below the projections 20, 20' , 21, 21' of the respective modular element. Numerals 105 and 105' indicate two brackets.

The numerals 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f indicate a movable part which may be inserted and extracted by means of a rotational movement, and which is shown in their closed position inside the respective modular element, whereas the numeral 108 indicates such a movable part in a projecting position with a maximum angle with respect to the relative modular element. These movable parts or small baskets will be described in the following with reference to Figs. 8, 9a, 9b, 11, from which it will result that the projections 20, 20' have the function of guides and the projections 21, 21' have a supporting function during the extraction by a rotational movement of the small basket of Fig. 8 from the respective modular element. Reference numeral 107 indicates an empty room of a modular element after extraction of a movable part ( identical to 108) . The lowest floor of the piece of furniture comprises four small spaces 109 formed by eight angle elements, four flat elements 7, and limited at their lower end by the floor of the building.

Obviously, Fig. 7 shows only a possible arrangement of the assembled components of the present invention.

The holes 38, 39 indicated in Fig. 2, which are provided on the angle elements, are also used for fixing external covering panels of any suited material, for decorative purposes, to the external lateral walls of a structure of the type shown in Fig. 7.

With reference to Figs. 8, 9a, 9b, numeral 70 indicates the small (movable) basket which can be extracted by means of a rotational movement from a modular element 71. The modular element 71 forms an integral piece, unlike the modular element of the first embodiment. It comprises two feet 72a, 72b (see in particular Figs. 10 and 11) which are aligned to the lateral walls 73a, 73b, an upper wall 73d and a lower wall 73c. The small basket 70 has a base 74 and four lateral walls, being open at its upper end. The two opposite lateral walls 75a, 75b have two projecting pins indicated by 76a, 76b, two openings 77a, 77b (whose form is shown in detail in Figs. 9a and 9b) which facilitate the extraction of the small basket 70 from the modular element 71, and two projections 78a, 78b with two recesses 79a, 79b of semicilindrical form. On the front lateral wall, at its upper end, the small basket 70 has a seizing element 80 for permitting to perform the rotational movement of the small basket 70 towards the outside, starting from a position in which it is completely inserted into the modular element 71. With reference to Figs. 9a, 9b and 11, it may be seen that the modular element 71 has projections 81a, 81b on the inner sides of the lateral walls 73a and 73b, which define a groove 82. Furthermore, as may be seen for example in Fig. 11, on the inner side of the lateral walls 73a and 73b, there are also two pins 83a, 83b.

With reference in particular to Figs. 9a, 9b, it may be noted that the pins 76a, 76b slide along the two respective grooves 82 (the pin 76b is located inside the groove 82 associated to the wall 73b and therefore it is not shown in these two lateral views).

In Fig. 9a, the pin 76a (and therefore also the pin 76b) is located at an intermediate position inside the groove 82 (almost in the middle of it). In Fig. 9b, the pin 76a (and also 76b) is at the upper end of the groove 82, and is stopped by a catch in the form of hook 84, integral with the projection 81a. During its rotation, during the extraction or insertion, the small basket 70 is supported by the pins 83a, 83b which are inserted inside the semicilindrical recesses 79a, 79b of the two lateral projections 78a, 78b of the small basket 70. When the small basket is in the position of Fig. 9a, it may be extracted by a traction and lifting avoiding the contact between the pins 76a, 76b and the hook-like catches 84. In both the positions shown in Fig. 9a and in Fig. 9b, objects may be introduced in the small basket 70 in the

<» direction of the arrow A without being obliged to extract the small basket 70 from the modular element 71. The modular element 71 may comprise, besides the lateral walls 73a, 73b and the upper and lower walls 73c, 73d, also a rear wall (not shown in the figures). Unlike the first embodiment of the invention (Figs. 1-6) , which makes use of elements shaped like a truncated cone, different modular elements 71 may be superimposed by means of the feet 72a, 72b, which besides their function of supporting the modular element 71, also have the function of connecting in a rigid manner the modular elements 71. Thus, as may be seen in Figs. 10 and 11, the feet 72a, 72b of an upper modular element 71 (shown only partially in Fig. 10) are inserted in a rigid and precise manner inside two cavities 90, 90' shaped substantially like a parallelepiped, arranged in parallel positions, at the upper end of the lower modular element 71. Said cavities 90, 90' are obviously provided also on the upper modular element 71 (see Fig. 11), in order to allow the superimposition and the fitting of a third modular element 71, and so on. Referring again to Fig. 1 , that is to the first embodiment, it can be seen that the small basket of Fig. 8 can also be inserted into the assembled frame of Fig. 1, and the projections 20, 20' serve as guides for the pins 76a, 76b of the movable part or small basket 70, the latter being inserted in the modular element of Fig. 1 by a rotational movement. With reference to this figure, the two pins 21' , 21" are introduced in the semicilindrical recesses 79a, 79b, which are obtained on the base of the movable part or small basket 70. The pins 76a, 76b which are integral with the movable part 70 move along the guide 20' - and more precisely along the arcuated wall 22' which is in a mirror-like position with respect to the arcuated wall 22 of the guide 20 (see Fig. 3) - when said movable part 70 of the modular element is inserted in the latter by means of a rotational movement, said rotation being carried out around the axis defined by the line connecting the two pins 21', 21" which also serve as supports for said movable part, like what has been said above for the pins 83a, 83b. The rotation angle of the movable part is bounded by the hook-like end 23' of the projection 20' , which stops the movement along the arcuated wall 22' of the pin 76a, 76b integral with the movable part or small basket 70. When the pin 76a integral with the movable part 70 is inside the recess defined by the hook-like end 23' (Fig. 1 and 3), and the other pin 76b is inside the respective recess of the angle element 2b, then, the movable part 70 shaped substantially like a parallelepiped, juts out of the modular element, with a maximum inclination angle.

The two embodiments described are provided with different means in order to fit together the modular elements by superimposing them.

Furthermore, the form of the guides or projections is different in the two embodiments, and also other shapes of these projections could be imagined, but they must all comprise a hook-like catch in order to limit the maximum aperture and inclination of the small basket or movable part 70.

Because of the limited depth of the modular element (see the double-arrow X in Fig. 9b) , it may be used in narrow passageways or rooms of houses, or for inserting therein objects of small dimensions as for example shoes, videocassettes, floppy disks, newspapers, reviews, plastic bottles, games, books, etc. The interior of a small basket 70 of every modular element may be subdivided by horizontal and/or vertical separators, by using for example modular separators introduced in ribs obtained on the small basket 70. According to an obvious variant, the two pins 83a, 83b of Fig. 11 may form an uninterrupted i.e. continuous bar connecting together the two opposite lateral walls 73a, 73b of the modular element 71.

Similarly, in the first embodiment, the semicilindrical projections 21' , 21" may form a continuous bar joining the two opposite lateral walls. According to another obvious modification, in the second embodiment, the projections 81a, 81b and the pins 83a, 83b may be located on the upper wall 73d and on the lower wall 73c, so that the rotation axis of the small basket or movable part 70 will have a vertical arrangement,

Claims

1. A modular element for furnishings, comprising two lateral walls (1, 1' ; 73a, 73b), and two additional walls, that is, an upper (7; 73d) and a lower (8; 73c) one, characterized in that the depth (X) of the modular element is considerably less than the height, that is the distance between said upper wall (7; 73d) and said lower wall (8; 73c), and guides in the form of projections (20, 20', 20"; 81a, 81b) and pins (21, 21' , 21"; 83a, 83b) are provided in order to respectively guide second pins (76a, 76b) integral with a movable part (70) which may be extracted by rotation from the modular element, and in order to support said movable part (70) during its rotation, being introduced in semicilindrical recesses (79a, 79b) formed on lateral projections (78a, 78b) of said movable part or small basket (70), the latter being stopped during its rotational opening movement, by two hook-like catches (23'; 84) integral with said guides in the form of projections (20'; 81a) , which stop the movement of the second pins (76a, 76b).

2. A modular element for furnishings according to claim 1, characterized in that in an intermediate position of the small basket (70) , between the closure position in which it is completely inside the modular element, and the position of maximum aperture with maximum inclination with respect to a vertical axis, in which position the second pins (76a, 76b) are in contact with the hook-like catches (23'; 84), the small basket (70) can be extracted from the modular element by means of a traction and a subsequent lifting, preventing contact between the second pins (76a, 76b) integral with the small basket (70) and the catches (23' ; 84).

3. A modular element for furnishings according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said lateral walls (1, 1') and said upper (7) and lower (8) walls form separate parts which can be assembled to L-shaped angle elements (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) by a sliding and fitting movement, said angle elements (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) comprising a horizontal and a vertical section, the vertical section comprising the guides in the form of projections (20, 20') and the pins (21, 21') , arranged in a mirror-like way, and both the vertical and the horizontal sections being provided with fixing means (42, 43, 44, 45; 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39) , which allow to connect laterally and/or to εupermpose several modular elements.

4. A modular element for furnishings according to claim 3, characterized in that the upper wall (7) and the lower one (8) are flat elements with opposite edges shaped like an U, and the two vertical walls (1, 1') are rectangular plates with opposite edges shaped like an U, said edges shaped like an U being fitted by means of a sliding movement in the free ends (3a, 3b) of an angle element, said free ends having a reduced thickness with respect to the remaining parts (4a, 4b) of the angle element, so that the faces (6, 9) of the angle element are perfectly aligned with the flat element (7, 8) and the vertical walls (1, 1').

5. A modular element for furnishings according to claims 3 and 4, characterized in that said guides in the form of projections (20, 20') and the pins (21, 21') are spaced apart from the section of the angle element (2a, 2b, 2c) opposite to the catches (23, 23' ) so as to form a seat for the insertion, centering, and blocking of conventional elements for furnishings, as for example brackets, brackets with raised edges, small open rooms with shelves, drawers supporting frames, etc.

6. A modular element for furnishings according to claim 3, 4 or 5, characterized in that said fixing/blocking means comprise a blocking element (45) shaped like a frustum of a cone to be inserted in recesses (42, 43) with circular cross-section which are provided on the horizontal walls of every angle element (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) , said blocking element (45) comprising an axial hole which receives a pin (44) located in the middle of every recess (42, 43) with circular cross-section, and being formed by an elastic deformable material, and having a base with an area slightly larger than that of the recesses with circular cross section, and with the other base having an area slightly less than that of the cross-section of said recesses, said blocking element being suited to be introduced also in equidistant holes (60a, 60b) of appropriate size obtained on the flat element.

7. A modular element for furnishings, according to claim 3, 4 or 5, characterized in that said fixing/blocking means comprise holes (36, 37, 38, 39) in which screws (32, 33) are introduced, which are fixed by nuts (34, 35) .

8. A modular element for furnishings, according to any of the claims 3 to 8 , characterized in that connecting stirrups (17) are fixed to the wall by means of dowels introduced through a slit (61), and to the frame (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d; 7, 8, 1, 1') by means of screws (18, 18') which pass through corresponding holes obtained on a flat element, on a vertical wall , and on the respective angle element.

9. A modular element for furnishings according to claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that said modular element forms a single integral piece with two lateral walls (73a, 73b) and upper and lower walls (73c, 73d) , and with two feet (72a, 72b) which also serve as supports, and which can be inserted in a precise and rigid manner inside cavities (90, 90' ) shaped preferably like a parallelepiped and located on the upper end of an underlying modular element, said cavities (90, 90') being aligned with the respective lateral walls (73a, 73b) .

10. A modular element for furniεhinε according to claim 1, characterized in that said pins (21, 21' , 21", 83a, 83b) form a continuous bar (70) supporting the movable part during its rotation.

11. A modular element for furnishings according to claim 1 , characterized in that the rotation axis of the small basket is vertical.